Return of the Frozen Player

— ♬♩

A jingle echoed from the man’s Vita, and he promptly answered the call.

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Have you arrived? In that case, can you tell me what he meant by cleaning up the mess?”

“Well… I think I understand what he meant,” said the man. He was the agent of the Egyptian Player Association. He looked perplexed as he stared at the scene in front of him.

The man was currently in the Sahara on the African continent, but…

‘I have no idea what to say.’

This wasn’t the man’s first time visiting the Sahara, but this was his first time stumbling upon such a scene.

“Mr. President. Do you happen to like winter?”

— What? What does that mean?

“Well… winter has come to the desert.”

The vast desert was frozen, creating an exotic scenery that couldn’t be seen anywhere in the world. The ice on the surface of the desert wasn’t melting at all despite the scorching sun overhead.

— Goodness…!

The President of the Egyptian Player Association finally understood what that man meant by cleaning up the mess.

***

“Oh, you’re here,” said Seo Jun-Sik on the couch.

Seo Jun-Ho had just returned home

Seo Jun-Sik didn’t take his eyes off of the TV as he asked, “How was your training?”

“It was fine,” Seo Jun-Ho answered while taking off his shoes. To be honest, he couldn’t say that he was a hundred percent satisfied with the training.

‘I wonder what’s going to happen if I use the full extent of my power.’

Seo Jun-Ho dared not to do so. He didn’t want to destroy Earth.

‘I can do it somewhere, but I’ll definitely cause a huge disturbance.’

“Oh, by the way. I emailed you the report.”

“Is that so? I’ll check.”

Seo Jun-Ho entered the bathroom and turned on the shower.

He tapped on his Vita, and an organized report unfolded before his eyes.

‘Hmm.’

The report was summarized, so it was easy to understand.

Seo Jun-Ho nodded.

‘As expected, Mio grew the fastest.’

Mio’s rapid growth graph was eye-catching. It looked like it would go to the moon.

‘I think Mio and Gilbe profited the most on the 7th Floor.’

In Seo Jun-Ho’s opinion, the most powerful person between Mio and Gilberto was the latter. Seo Jun-Ho thought that Gilberto’s attack was stronger than Skaya’s Destruction Ray when it came to pure destructiveness.

‘He absorbed a ton of Force from the power plant, after all…’

However, Mio was catching up to Gilberto at a scary speed.

“There’s a cheetah running after you, man,” said Seo Jun-Ho.

Mio was still in the middle of tempering what she had obtained from the 7th Floor, which was her own cultivation method.

She was getting stronger day by day, and she was now almost on par with Seo Jun-Sik, who could already handle fifty percent of Seo Jun-Ho’s prowess as a Star Destruction Stage creature.

And Mio still hadn’t exhausted her potential….

‘She’s on the cusp of reaching late-stage Liberation.’

It was a terrifying revelation when Mio had just reached middle-stage Liberation fifteen days ago. Of course, there were several reasons behind Mio’s massive growth spurt.

‘First of all, the environment.’

The training environment was great because of Seo Jun-Sik’s existence. He was basically Seo Jun-Ho himself, so he had a lot of things to teach the others.

In addition, Mio need not hold back against Seo Jun-Sik. Mio’s competitive spirit was also at an all-time high, as she considered herself the weakest among the 5 Heroes.

“However, the most important factor here is talent…”

Mio’s talent and hard work allowed her to grow so much in just fifteen days.

“Hmm.

”

Seo Jun-Ho seriously contemplated whether or not he should train with his friends for about a year before going on his way to clear the 8th Floor.

‘If they train hard for about a year, they might reach the Star Destruction Stage…’

Skaya and Rahmadat were already at late-stage Liberation, so Seo Jun-Ho reckoned that they simply needed an opportunity to make a breakthrough into the Star Destruction Stage.

The same should be true of Kim Woo-Joong and the other Heavens.

‘I have to think about this seriously after my visit to the Aeon Empire.’

Seo Jun-H emerged from the shower and dried his hair.

“Where did Frost go?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.

“I think she’s playing in her room by herself.”

‘Wait, I forgot to turn off the parental controls.’

Seo Jun-Ho felt sorry, thinking that the Frost Queen hadn’t been able to watch her favorite shows and movies over the past fifteen days.

“Is she still upset?”

“Not really. She seemed fine.”

“Seriously? I thought she’d be angry.”

“Gilbe did a good job comforting her. As expected of a professional father, I guess.”

‘Hmm. I see.’

Seo Jun-Ho felt relieved and knocked on the Frost Queen’s door.

- Come on in.

He opened the door carefully and saw the Frost Queen eagerly picking up something from the floor.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m playing gonggi.”

Swoosh! Swoosh! Snatch!

Seo Jun-Ho’s gaze shone in nostalgia as he watched the Frost Queen play gonggi[1].

“Ah, yes. I played that a lot when I was in elementary school.”

“Do you want to play, Contractor?”

“No. I actually forgot all the rules…”

“I can teach you,” the Frost Queen grinned and said, “Because we’re gganbu[2].”

“...”

‘What? Did Gilbe let Frost watch Squid Game? Otherwise, how does he know that word? Isn’t he American?’

Seo Jun-Ho ended up playing gonggi with the Frost Queen for the whole day.

***

The next morning, Seo Jun-Ho dressed up and left his room.

He saw familiar people in the living room.

“Is everyone ready?”

“As you can see,” Rahmadat answered with a smile.

Seo Jun-Ho looked around and confirmed that everyone was ready.

His expression turned grim as he said, “We might die.”

“...”

The four Heroes, the Frost Queen, and Seo Jun-Sik, listened intently to Seo Jun-Ho.

“And it might be because we inadvertently offended someone rather than during a grand battle for humanity…”

The Aeon Empire was an unknown place filled with people whom Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t sure he could defeat, despite being a Star Destruction Stage creature himself.

“What we achieved throughout our entire lives might collapse in an instant.”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho wanted to intimidate them a bit, but their eyes remained firm.

Seo Jun-Ho smiled. ‘It seems that no one cares about such a thing.’

He could understand their feelings, as he would have reacted the same if he were in their shoes.

“Thank you.”

Seo Jun-Ho knew how hard they trained just to stand next to him, and it was exactly because he was aware of their hard work that he couldn’t say anything else aside from thank you.

“Let’s go.”

“Jun-Ho. I’m glad that you kept your speech short today.”

“Yes. You’ve improved a lot.”

“I would have nagged you if you had talked a bit longer. You did great today.”

“Hey, you should nag Deok-Gu, not me.”

Seo Jun-Ho led his friends to the basement of the Korean Player Association.

Shim Deok-Gu had been waiting for them in the basement.

“I guess you really are going to leave…”

“I have to go. There’s no other way.”

Seo Jun-Ho had been trying to contact the Administrators over the past fifteen days, but every Administrator was out of reach as if they had agreed not to respond to any inquiries.

“And the Aeon Empire has already given me permission to visit them.”

In other words, Seo Jun-Ho was going in the right direction.

“...”

Shim Deok-Gu wordlessly swept his gaze across the Heroes and hugged them one by one.

“Have a safe trip. Don’t worry about us here.”

“I’m not worried because you’re here.”

“...This guy. You’re so cheesy today,” said Shim Deok-Gu with a smile. He proceeded to hug Skaya much longer and much tighter than the others before stepping back.

“I’ll bring you back some gifts,” said Skaya.

“...You don’t need to bring me back anything, so just stay out of trouble. Follow Jun-Ho’s instructions and make sure you don’t get lost, okay?”

“How old do you think I am? I’m not a child.” Skaya rolled her eyes.

Soon, they walked into the elevator, with Skaya being the last one.

It didn’t take them long to arrive at Neo City.

Yeon was already waiting for the party in front of the Dimensional Elevator.

- Your Majesty and His Majesty’s friends, please follow me.

The party soon found themselves staring at a splendid spaceship painted in gold.

Seo Jun-Ho looked devastated.

“...Are you telling me to ride this cringe-looking thing?”

- I’m sorry? Cringe? You are looking at Golden Dragon. She’s the proud spaceship of the Emperor.

Even the spaceship’s name couldn’t exceed Seo Jun-Ho’s expectations.

‘What’s up with the generic name?’

“Why is the name so generic?”

- Oh, come on. It could have been better, but it’s still a spaceship that was made for the emperor’s use. Oh, by the way, please change your clothes, Your Majesty.

“No way. Never.”

Seo Jun-Ho refused. Yeon would definitely force him to wear the heavy and uncomfortable imperial garb.

- Tsk. Fine. I’ll let you wear whatever you want this time. Then, please board the spaceship.

The group curiously looked around.

“Where’s the pilot?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

- Oh, the pilot? Well… tada!

Yeon proudly pointed his finger at himself.

- I am your pilot.

“You can fly this thing?”

-Of course, I can. I’m an AI, after all.

“Who’s going to take care of Neo City while you’re gone?”

- Once again, I am an AI. I can just divide myself into two for the time being.

“Wow, that’s very convenient…”

Seo Jun-Ho looked around the interior of the spaceship and found that it was much larger than it seemed. Soon, he arrived at the control room.

Skaya was excitedly tapping on the buttons.

“Wait. Is this a magic stone by chance? Is it actually a magic stone?”

- It sure is.

“Goodness! This is my first time seeing a magic stone this big! Wait, let me check… oh my, it has gravity control and acceleration magic carved in it!”

- P-please don’t take it off.

“Oh, right.” Skaya sat down, looking disappointed.

Rumble!

The spaceship started moving.

- The destination is the Aeon Empire. ETA in two hours.

“...Wait, two hours? Really?”

- Yes, and it’s all because we’re going to warp jump to the nearest warp node. Thanks to the visa, we don’t have to take the long route. By the way, without a visa and without using warp jump, it’ll take us at least a few months to reach the Aeon Empire.

Rumble!

The spaceship floated away and was soon in space.

“Wow…” Seo Jun-Ho muttered in awe. He had seen many beautiful sceneries through the many Gates and Floors he had explored before, but he was still captivated by the beauty of the planet in front of him.

“It looks like a pretty bead.”

Seo Jun-Ho stared and appreciated the view for quite a while.

Then, he found something floating outside the planet.

“Yeon. Are they what you were talking about…?”

-Yes, they were the reinforcements that I was going to send to Your Majesty.

Seo Jun-Ho stared at the reinforcements with deep eyes.

“Yeon. How do you show respect and appreciation in Neo City?”

- You put your hands together and lower your head, but Your Majesty is the Emperor, so you can just…

Yeon trailed off. Seo Jun-Ho was already bowing with his hands clasped together.

‘Those with high statuses usually show their appreciation with words.’

However, Yeon didn’t bother stopping Seo Jun-Ho because the latter’s attitude was the reason he had entrusted Neo City to the latter.

- Then, please enjoy your flight.

Yeon smiled softly.

***

Fwoosh!

A golden spaceship emerged from a massive rift in space.

“...Ugh.”

Seo Jun-Ho frowned at the nauseating sensation.

‘It feels like Teleport.’

- You feel a little nauseous and dizzy, don’t you? You get used to it.

“Is it normal?”

- No. The nausea would have been worse if we were using a worse spacecraft. It’s a good thing this spacecraft is decent.

“Horray to Capitalism, I guess?” said Seo Jun-Ho with a shake of his head.

The party drank potions to recover before approaching the windows.

“Yeon. Is that…”

- Yes.

Yeon nodded.

Seo Jun-Ho looked out of the window once again.

‘...It’s smaller than I thought.’

Seo Jun-Ho thought that the most powerful nation in the universe would be a huge planet incomparable to Earth. However, the blue and beautiful planet in front of him looked only double the size of Earth.

“That’s the Aeon Empire.”

“I never thought I’d get to visit other planets in my lifetime.”

“If you think about it, going up the Floors isn’t too different from visiting another planet.”

“Well, this is different because we actually used a spaceship.”

Everyone gathered around the windows and excitedly chattered like children.

“Jun-Ho, do you feel it?”

“Feel what? Ah...” Seo Jun-Ho flinched. He turned and was now seeing the planet in a new light. “It’s covered with magic.”

“It’s not just covered with magic. The entire planet is being protected by a spell that I can’t even quite grasp,” said Skaya.

The party members were shaken by Skaya’s remark.

“A spell capable of protecting a planet that big?”

“Just what kind of monster is capable of doing such a thing?”

“Wait, is it God? Does God actually exist?”

The party members muttered to each other, sounding both respectful and fearful.

Meanwhile, Yeon approached them with a hologram window.

-Your Majesty.

Seo Jun-Ho turned, and a familiar voice echoed from the hologram.

- Please confirm your identity. Visitors are Seo Jun-Ho and five other individuals affiliated with Planet ZY-410. Correct?

“Huh? This voice…”

The party members stared at each other with wide eyes.

The familiar voice sounded the same as the System.

‘It feels nice to hear a familiar voice in a place like this.’

“Correct.”

- Your identity has been verified. You are now allowed to enter the planet.

With that, the spaceship slowly approached the planet, and the party members’ hearts quivered in excitement as they got closer and closer to it.

1. A children’s game. More info here: ☜

2. It’s at the core of Korean values, but it was shown in Squid Game as well. More information here: ☜